Sealing device



June 30, 1964 F. H. ARTHUR 3,138,842

SEALING DEVICE Filed June 12, 1961 2 Sheets-Sheet l f jgyj 7 United States Patent 3,138,842 SEALDIG DEVICE Frank Henry Arthur, 182 Harrington Road, South Norwooti, London, SE. 25, England Filed June 12, 1961, Ser. No. 116,47 4 Claims priority, application Great Britain June 16, 1960 Claims. (Cl. 24-205.11)

This invention relates to scalable fastening devices primarily but not exclusively intended for use with so-called zip and like sliding fasteners for the purposeof preventing or discouraging interference with the fastener when the latter is in its closed position and also of enabling any act of interference or tampering to be readily detected.

The invention has been devised with the general object of providing a simple neat and reliable alternative to such contrivances as are at present employed for the purpose and which usually involve a separate lock on the fastener or the use of binding material such as string or tape and a seal of wax or ductile metal necessitating separate or special tools for its fabrication.

In its widest aspect the invention accordingly consists of a sealable fastening device comprising a fixed element and a movable element which overlies the fixed element when the fastening device is closed, said fixed element having at least one opening therein and enclosed spring means situated behind each said opening, and a sealing wafer having at least one projecting tab which becomes lockingly engaged with said spring means after insertion into said opening when said sealing wafer is pressed into close overlapping relation with said movable element, said fixed and movable elements being then inseparable one from the other without permanently or visibly damaging said sealing wafer.

For a better understanding of the invention however reference should be made to the accompanying drawings in which a preferred embodiment of its mode of use are illustrated in these drawings:

FIGURE 1 is a longitudinal cross-section through interlocked elements of a sealing device;

FIGURES 2, 3 and 4 illustrate the mode of use of the device with a zip fastener, whilst FIGURES 5, 6 and 7 illustrate the mode of use of the device with a toggle fastener.

Referring now to the drawings and more particularly FIGURES 1 to 4 the sealable fastening device therein shown has been developed for the specific purpose of retaining in its closed position the slider handle 1 of a zip fastener which may be incorporated with a postal or other envelope.

The first or fixed element of the device consists of a generally rectangular fiat housing 2 which is formed or mounted on one face of a flat U-shaped base 3 which is adapted to be attached by means of rivets or the like and a back plate 20 to the fabric 4 of an envelope opposite that end of a zip fastener track 5 to which the slider 1 has to be drawn to bring the two halves of the track into fully interlocked engagement.

Close to the top inside surface of the housing there is centrally secured by means of a rivet 6 and washer 7 connecting the top and bottom of the housing a spring steel strip 8 having ends 8a which :are inclined obliquely towards the base plate andterminate closely adjacent the ends of the housing directly below a pair of arcuate slots 2a formed at the respective ends of the top of the housing.

The seal consists of a circular flanged wafer made of soft metal, having a perpendicular tab 9a at each end.

These tabs 9a are curved in a plane parallel with the wafer and adapted to enter the slots 2a in the first element. Each tab 9a is formed with a narrow transverse slot 9b in the aboveamentioned parallel plane adjacent its outward end and from the two slot corners furthest removed from the wafer to the outward corners of the tabs there extend indentations 9c which constitute lines of weakness in the element.

The handle 1 of \the slider of the fastener which constitutes the movable element of the scalable fastening device has two arcuate slots 1a of the same form and extent as the arcuate slots 2a in the fixed element of the device and when the slider is in the fully closed position shown in FIGURE 3 the slots 1a and 2a can be brought into register. To seal the fastener the wafer 9 is placed over the top of the slider handle 1 with its tabs 9a extending into the arcuate slots 1a therein and finally pushed towards the fixed element so that the tabs enter the arcuate slots 2a in the latter and bear against the inclined ends 8a of the resilient strip 8 which are first bowed and then finally snap back to their original position by engagemest through the transverse slots 9b in the tabs. The wafer and the fixed element of the device with the slider handle sandwiched between them are now interlocked as shown in FIGURE 4 and cannot be withdrawn from one another to release the slider handle without rupturing the tabs 9a of the wafer along their lines of weakness 9c.

Thus any removal or attempt at removal of the wafer by interference with it or with the housing or slider handle, whether or not by unauthorised persons necessarily permanently damages it in a clearly visible manner. Only by means of a new wafer, stocks of which would be held only by authorised persons, can the device be employed to reseal the fastener.

It is to be noted that the backing plate 20 extends beyond the end of the fastener track 5 in order to obviate the possibility of the latter being turned upwards to a position which would enable it to be moved relative to the slider to cause opening of the fastener without moving the slider. This arrangement is adopted invariably when fitting the device to a zip fastener mounted on flexible sheet material.

The ordinary method of unsealing the device is by sharply lifting the handle of the slider, or by levering upwards the free end of the latter for instance by use of a special tool issued for the purpose. To facilitate such an operation the slider may be laterally extended to afford a levering surface or surfaces. The housing is open at the end nearest the track to allow the exit of the rupture parts of the seal.

It will be apparent that in operation the interlocking parts of the sealing device are invisible and inaccessible within the housing so that there is no way, other than that mentioned above, for separating the two elements.

FIGURES 5, 6 and 7 illustrate the mode of application of a scalable fastening device, similar to the one described above, to a toggle fastener such as is used for instance for retaining a lid of a box in its closed position.

The toggle fastener, shown in its open position in FIG- URE 5, comprises a bracket 10 on which a toggle lever 11 is pivotally mounted, a locking finger 12 pivoted on the toggle lever and a grooved catch piece 13 which is engaged by the inturned tip of the finger 12 when the toggle lever is pressed down against the bracket 10 as shown in FIGURE 6.

The fixed element of the sealing device is incorporated in the bracket 10, to the inside of which there is secured by a rivet 14 a spring steel strip 15 having the same conformation as the strip 18 shown in FIGURE 1. Above the ends of this strip the bracket 10 is pierced with two parallel slots 10a.

The wafer 16 is constructed substantially as previously described except that the tabs 16a with the slots 16b are straight and not arcuate.

The toggle lever 11 which constitutes the movable ele- 3 ment of the device is formed with a pair of slots 11a which when the lever is pressed against the bracket are in register with the two slots 10a in the latter.

When the fastener has been closed as shown in FIG- URE 6 the wafer 16 is inserted as indicated in FIGURE 7 the locking action and mode of removal being as already described.

The device as a whole and the details thereof may be made of any desired shape or size which will ordinarily be related to the size of the slider handle, or the toggle lever or its equivalent, and for instance the slots in the two elements instead of being in line with the fastener track may be transversely orientated. The centre of the sealing wafer may be engraved, embossed or otherwise marked or identified as by means of the users name, a code number, or other information or ornamentation as desired, using for instance a manually operated press tool.

It should also be appreciated that in addition to the two applications specifically described the sealable fastening device of the invention is also generally applicable to many other forms of fastener or securing catch, for instance those involving the use of a D ring and hasp and ordinarily secured by a padlock and so forth.

I claim:

1. A sealable fastening device comprising a fixed generally flat element and a complementary movable element each having at least one similar opening therein which, when the fastening device is closed, overlie one another with the respective openings in axial registry, substantially flat spring means secured flat against said fixed element on the face of said fixed element remote from said movable element at a point to one side of said opening and extending across said opening in the fixed element, and a sealing wafer having at least one projecting tab to engage and deflect said spring means away from said generally flat fixed element upon insertion through the registered openings of the said fixed and movable elements when said sealing wafer is pressed into close overlapping relation with said movable element, and an aperture in said tab positioned to be entered by said spring means whereby said wafer must be destroyed before said fixed and movable elements can be separated.

2. A sealable fastening device comprising a fixed element in the form of a housing, and a movable element which encloses at least the two sides and the top of the fixed element when the fastening device is closed with the top of the movable element lying upon the top of the fixed element with at least one opening in the top of the movable element in register with at least one corresponding opening in the top of the housing, a leaf spring situated in the housing beneath said at least one opening in the top thereof, and a sealing wafer having at least one slotted projecting tab which becomes lockingly engaged with the end of said leaf spring after insertion through the registered openings of said movable element and said housing when said sealing Wafer is pressed into close overlapping relation with said movable element, said fixed and movable elements being then inseparable one from the other without rupturing the tab in the vicinity of the slot therein.

3. A sealable fastening device as claimed in claim 2 in which there are two openings in the fixed element and in the movable element and the spring means is a centrally secured leaf spring having its ends located beneath the respective openings in the fixed element.

4. A sealable fastening device as set forth in claim 2 in which the movable element constitutes the movable catchengaging element of a toggle fastener.

5. A sealable fastening device as set forth in claim 2 in which the movable element has depending sides and a depending end which when the device is closed is located behind the end of the fixed element so that the movable element cannot slide along the track.

6. A sealable fastening device comprising a fixed plate element having a front and a back surface and a movable plate element which overlies the front surface of the fixed element when the fastening device is closed, said fixed element having an opening therein, a flat spring means secured flat against the back of said fixed element in a position to extend substantially across said opening, said movable element having an opening therein adapted to register with the opening in said fixed element when the fastening device is closed, a destructible sealing wafer having a projecting tab adapted to be inserted axially through the registered openings of said movable and said fixed elements, said tab being of sufficient length to deflect said spring axially away from said fixed element, a transverse opening in said tab to receive the end of said spring upon insertion of said tab, whereby said fixed and movable elements are inseparable from each other without destruction of said wafer.

7. A sealable fastening device as claimed in claim 6 in which the sealing Wafer is circular and formed with two diametrically separated tabs.

8. A sealable fastening device as set forth in claim 6 wherein the fixed element is situated at the end of the track of a sliding fastener and the movable element is associated with a fastening member slidable upon the track.

9. In a sealable fastening device comprising a fixed element, an apertured movable element which overlies the fixed element when the fastening device is closed, said fixed element having at least one opening therein for register with the aperture in the movable element and an enclosed leaf spring secured flat against said fixed element situated immediately behind and having a free end projecting substantially across the opening, and a sealing wafer having a projecting tab adapted to deflect said spring away from said opening, said tab having an aperture extending transversely of said opening and adapted to be generally in alignment with said spring, said aperture being of a size to receive said free end of said spring whereby said aperture becomes lockingly engaged with the end of said leaf spring upon insertion of said tab into said opening to deflect said spring.

10. A sealable fastening device as claimed in claim 9 in which each tab has at least one line of Weakness extending from the aperture to the edge of the tab along which rupture will occur on removal of the sealing wafer from the fixed element of the fastening device.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 338,519 Hanchett Mar. 23, 1886 785,526 Simpson Mar. 21, 1905 908,429 Tobey Dec. 29, 1908 1,048,837 Jessup Dec. 31, 1912 1,599,438 Shelly Sept. 14, 1926 2,028,423 Upham Jan. 21, 1936 2,272,681 Smith Feb. 10, 1942 2,530,899 Mueller Nov. 21, 1950 2,942,450 Krug June 28, 1960 FOREIGN PATENTS 413,825 Great Britain July 26, 1934 854,784 Great Britain Nov. 23, 1960 

1. A SEALABLE FASTENING DEVICE COMPRISING A FIXED GENERALLY FLAT ELEMENT AND A COMPLEMENTARY MOVABLE ELEMENT EACH HAVING AT LEAST ONE SIMILAR OPENING THEREIN WHICH, WHEN THE FASTENING DEVICE IS CLOSED, OVERLIE ONE ANOTHER WITH THE RESPECTIVE OPENINGS IN AXIAL REGISTRY, SUBSTANTIALLY FLAT SPRING MEANS SECURED FLAT AGAINST SAID FIXED ELEMENT ON THE FACE OF SAID FIXED ELEMENT REMOTE FROM SAID MOVABLE ELEMENT AT A POINT TO ONE SIDE OF SAID OPENING AND EXTENDING ACROSS SAID OPENING IN THE FIXED ELEMENT, AND A SEALING WAFER HAVING AT LEAST ONE PROJECTING TAB TO ENGAGE AND DEFLECT SAID SPRING MEANS AWAY FROM SAID GENERALLY FLAT FIXED ELEMENT UPON INSERTION THROUGH THE REGISTERED OPENINGS OF THE SAID FIXED AND MOVABLE ELEMENTS WHEN SAID SEALING WAFER IS PRESSED INTO CLOSE OVERLAPPING RELATION WITH SAID MOVABLE ELEMENT, AND AN APERTURE IN SAID TAB POSITIONED TO BE ENTERED BY SAID SPRING MEANS WHEREBY SAID WAFER MUST BE DESTROYED BEFORE SAID FIXED AND MOVABLE ELEMENTS CAN BE SEPARATED. 